The University of Sussex was the first of the new wave of universities founded in the 1960s, receiving its Royal Charter in August 1961. Nearly 50 years on, the University has become a leading teaching and research institution. In the 2009 Times Higher Education University World Rankings, Sussex was ranked in the top five per cent of all universities worldwide. Innovative research and scholarship Sussex is a leading research university, as reflected in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise. Over 90 per cent of Sussex research activity was rated as world leading, internationally excellent or internationally recognised, confirming the University among the leading 30 research universities in the UK, on a simple average across all scores. 18 subjects rank in the top 20 for research in the UK, across the arts, sciences and social sciences, with American studies ranked number 1 in the UK, Politics number 2, and Art history number 3. Teaching and learning The University of Sussex has over 10,000 students, of which almost 3,000 are postgraduates. Creative thinking, pedagogic diversity, intellectual challenge and interdisciplinarity have always been fundamental to a Sussex education. Our goal is to deliver teaching and learning programmes that are informed by current research, are attractive to students from all socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, and which deliver skills for life. We are currently expanding our degree programmes in popular areas such as biomedical science, business and management, digital media, international security, modern languages, and science and enterprise. Our staff Sussex has developed a reputation for innovation and inspiration, and attracts leading thinkers and researchers. We have counted three Nobel Prize winners, 13 Fellows of the Royal Society, six Fellows of the British Academy and a winner of the prestigious Crafoord Prize on our faculty. International Sussex From its foundation, Sussex has had an international per